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12/17/10

I'm here now to show you a little (and very good) piece of the 5th episode of Copa Studio's TV serie, Trunk Train. It's a sample; the all of it will be on TV in 2011!You also can watch this and more news and pics at the official http://trombatrem.blogspot.com/Have a great weekend and Christmas!

9/30/10

After this time without news, I have one: it's about the Tromba Trem (Trunk Train), the Copa Studio's TV serie. Pay attention for the characters, their movements, and the backgrounds, everything made perfectly well. This sample is good, and I can assure you: the episodes are much better! Watch and enjoy it!

5/29/10

I'm here today to tell you about mysilent time on my communication channel, hehe!I`m working on Copa Studio, in Rio de Janeiro, in the Trunk Trem Project (Tromba Trem).It`s a big dream, and I don`t wanna wake up.I put the photos of the Copa`s Team, and I`ll keep send stufs about the project, and personal works (when I have time, hahahaha).You can see the previews of the episodes in the http://trombatrem.blogspot.com/It`s awesome! And I hope you enjoy it like me! =D

3/15/10

I'm here again to show you more about the process of the Affair's short scene.

First of all, I've drawn the model, to make de modeling in the CG, to animate the character. As the two characters was the same, I modeled it just once.

Then, I made the thumbnails, a lot f them, to catch the perfect pose, which could express every character's feelings to the audience, like Milt Kahl used to do, and also Mr. Williams, who is one of the great masters of the thumbnailing.

In the end, I made some color studies to set the light, the material and the balance in the composition. Of course, I was trying it, and one of them could be so bizarre, heeheehee...

3/12/10

Hi all,This is the preview that I made to the affair's scene.As I said, I needed to plan carefully the scene before the 3D animation, to keep the eye texture expression, because during the animation process I didn't watch the eyes and what was happening in that stage of the animation. Like the most part of the animators in the world, mainly the great studio animators, like Pixar for example, the scene's plan was made through drawings, first with the thumbnails. I would want to put the drawings in the exact timing of the scene, so I move the thumbnails to the layout in the sheets, like a 2D animation, and made the keyframes and some breakdowns, to antecipate the 3D character's action and reaction.One of the most imortant things in this work was to try two oppostite personalities, giving to the two characters different attitudes. Of course, the character design is the most tool to achieve this objective. However, to make it clear that the personalities was the opposite - one character was shy, the other was extrovert - made the same body to them could highlight these differences. Using the animation, and body language could be fancier than sculpt two different characters to this scene, but I just want to use these tools in this work. I love character design and character visual development. I've already made a lots of them. You can see that in this blog. I'm a big fan of Willie Real, Nicholas Marlet, David Colman, Glen Keane, and many-many others. Only in this scene I do want to try opposite behaviors with the gestures, postures and personalities. Besides, the texture as facial expression, and concentrate that in the eyes, could also emphasize the each personality.I hope you enjoy the process.

This is my texture animation test, after watch again the children serie Pocoyohttp://www.pocoyo.com/For some guys, it can be strange, but not for me. I became a Pocoyo's fan when I watched it in Discovey Kids, with my nephew. The fancy animation and the simplicity in the character design pointed out to me. the timing in Pocoyo is amazing, and many series and movies don't have that sophisticated rhythm. However, the most interest thing is the facial expressions made only through of textures ( I think it's made like that).Twos years ago, when I saw Pocoyo, I started a research about how those facial expressions could be make. Unfortunately, I had to stop this work, because I needed to graduate, and dedicated myself to that project - which I'll release here, in this blog, when I finish the audio part. The animation and post-production in my graduation movie has ended, so I could back to the facial texture research. For this, I made that very short scene to test these facial expressions with textures, without any eye or mouth made with 3D sculpture, in CG. The firstmovie built totally in CG in the world, 100% virtual, the Brazilian's Cassiopéia (Cassiopéia, Clóvis Vieira, 1996), used textures to make the character's facial expressions. You can see about this movie in http://www.mci.org.br/historia/cassiopeia/cassiopeia.htmlAnd the making of in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsuDjIQkQ6I&NR=1

First of all, I wanted to put the mouths out, because I thought in a "kiss scene", and the sound expressing the kiss is fancier than show this act to the audience. The ancient russian director Dziga Vertov has written many texts about the sound in the movies. In one of them, he says that step sounds in a image that shows a man walking is a mistake, because the image's already shown the steps; the audience don't need listen to the sound of this. Therefore, show a scared face, while the audience hears the steps is an art, because people can use their imagination to understand the movie's story. So, I decided to make the kiss only with the sound and show the character expression through of his and her eyes. To make that, the animation must be perfectly planned to make no mistakes in the 3D, since I wasn't watch what was happened with the eyes when I was animating.Nevertheless, I follow the Eric Goldberg's advice, when he says "use the entire body to express what your character is feeling" (GOLDBERG, 2008, p. 24). Then, I put the camera filming the entire characters' body, like the beginning of the cinema, in Méliès movies, for example.You can also watch this in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx38OVPoI9Y

The body and the texture facial expression is the result of that short scene, which I hope you enjoy.

3/1/10

That's only the image of Don Quixote for the scene which I made this entire month.I really liked this scene, the process and the result, the charater and background's colors, the design, and the style "without" lines, the drawing with only colors, like Leo Matsuda's work, or Rad Sechrist's beautiful drawings, or some ones of Shane Progmore. Those guys are good inspiration in design.

Well, that's some part of the Quixote's making of that I shown before.This first part is the planing in the storyboard scene. I took these images and put in the time with my voice, to feel how it behaviors.

Here, I made the little drawings with the character gestures, called Thumbnails, and I put these drawings in the animation, in the layout scene, knowing where the charater would move. It was made by free lines, but taking care to keep the volume in the Quixote; As Williams said, "Don't confuse a drawing with a map: we're animating masses, not lines". That stage of the animation process allow us to watch the flow and flexibility of the acting, through the moviment, the timing and spacing. We also can call it pencil test, or rough animation, because it's not the final result.

After that, I made the clean up, with other sheets, and I put the character in the final design. As I know what are the kind of movement, the timing and the spacing, I could concentrate my brain in the visual and in the line, don't forgetting the Williams' words about the maps. As Milt Kahl said when Williams ask him if he listen to classical music during the animation process: "I'm not smart enough to think two things at the same time", and Williams conclude that "animation is concentration". This is the biggest knowledge! Furthermore: Eric Goldberg wrote that the pose goes for feeling first, and the anatomy becames after that. That's other bigger taught!

Finally, I made the Background of the scene, and I thought in a color to that, based on the great impressionists painters. Of course, it's not a very pleasure and higher painting, but it got beautiful with the character. Basically, I wanted to eliminate the black and white colors of the palette, and make light and shadows with yellow and blue shades. Yes, I couldn't make that without mention Gustav Doré, one of the best Cervantes' illustrators, and Portinari, who is present in the scene, by a little tribute, in the frame on the wall.

"We have to love our art with all our force, and love it without selfishness", said Stanislavski...

2/26/10

Here we are some thumbanils, which are the preview drawings that I always made before draw an animation scene. Milt Kahl was the great master: if he had a scene that the character was lying on the bed, for exemple, he drew him with the left arm on the stomach, and in other drawing, with the left arm on the head, and, other, left arm on the bed, and etc, ad infinitum, untill find out his pose. When he had a character pose that he liked, and was expressive enough to catch the audience for some minutes, then he put this pose on the real size, in the final sheet, in the layout. "Dick" Williams made up it when saw Frank Thomas draw only one pose for the cat in Alice in Wonderland: that was his key pose!On the other hand, Eric Goldberg said he don't work with thumbnails... God! And he's, nowadays, one of the best cartoon animators in the world! Observe the Alladin's Genius, the Hercoles' mentor Phill, or the recent Princess and the Frog´s Alligator: any word is enough to describe it!Each person made the process how it works better, in a more pleasure way. I'm not one of the great ones (yet, hehe), but I try to follow their examples. In this case, the Kahl's example works better for me. =)

After weeks of work, I finished the preview scene of the character who I was developing and showing in this blog: Don Quixote. That's a little sketch scene for the movie that I've started to think while I'm not working.Being after the greatest Disney's masters, like Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and the others, I tried to make this scene visually beautiful and, in the Disney's words, with the illusion of life. However, not only these animator professors, but also Richard Williams, who in his book said "Gestures are stroger than words". That's is the master key for the animation. Therefore, Quixote points our eyes out to the noise, before speak "There is a giant there!". Without the sentence, we could guess that something was not on the right track. Chuck jones said that it was the difference between animation and, what he called, illustrated radio: if you turn off the image, and understand what happens, only listening to it, it's an illustrated radio, but, if you turn off the sound and make out the story,that's animaton. Maybe the illustrated radio, nowadays, could be called TV; but I do made the monolog to take over the lip sync techniques, only for this.Yes, I studied the russian master actor, Constantin Stanislavski, but I coundn't make a good voice in it. As he said, his methodology is not a recipe. I'm sorry; I annouce you before hear this: that's not a professional actor's voice, and I hope you enjoy the animation... visually! Take easy! I spoke only in that rough animation; I'll not try to do it again. =P

1/31/10

Last Saturday I was in the hospital with a deep pain in my neck. When I was there, an old man arrived, lying in a stretcher and he stayed in front of me for some minutes. It pointed his feet out to me for his straight with curves lines. Not only the feet, but also the hand and fingers of that work man who I observed. Following the Leonardo da Vinci's advise, I was with my little sketch book in the T-shirt pocket, and could catch some lines of these shapes that really amazed me.

Well, here there are some drawings made inside the subway, in the route to the college.Some people dislike when realize that they are been observed. As Walt Stanchfield said: “Don’t be afraid to sketch in public places such as museums, parks, restaurants, etc.”, because that's is the best exercise to our minds and drawings. Also Leonardo da Vinci advised his students to make drawings in public places, carrying a sketch book all the time. Whether two great masters said these things, why do I have to disagree with them? Let our drawings out!

However, I wasn't pleased with those results, because didn't have platicity, beauty and charming in those characters when I put them in animation poses. So, I've made so many studies for the two persons, but now, I was started doing drawings from basic shapes, because they are better watched for the audience in the screen. And, as Alfred Hitchcock said to François Truffault: "We have to "draw" our movies as Shakespeare thought his plays: to the audience!"

As I said, Sancho came out easier tahn Quijote, and his shape was decided. That thin guy gave me a lots of drawings to find his silhouette. On the other hand, thinking about animal shapes, as the old european fisiognomonie studies was so interesting for the development. That assured success for the better result in that case. But not only. All the form is plastic and can be applied in animation with all its principles, besides the Art Babbit's successive breaking of joints.Sure! I put a little mouse in that composition, as a conflict point in the scene. Remember: all the Disney animation has begun with a mouse (after the Oswald, but it's another History, hehe)That's the better Don Quijote de La Mancha, who truly has a squash and stretch in his limbs, and can have the successive breaking of joints, like the Dick Williams' Pink Panther in the Blake Edwards' The Return of the Pink Panther.And Sancho, that's already borned with a moody face, differently of the Cervantes' book. Yes! I really liked those ones. But... Is that all, folks? Of course, not...

Fist of all, I have to show you the visual development - and some psychological attitudes - of these persons based on Cervantes' book.Here, I've drawn Don Quijote thinking in a thin middle-aged man. To tell you the truth, I really wanted e silhouette which looked like a Chuck Jones's Willie Coyote, only because Chuck's drawinhgs are so charming. So, I made many studies in my sketch book for the Mancha's warrior. And stopped when I could watch a satisfatory result to it.With the Don made, I could think in Sancho Panza. Thinking for contrast, because in animation, the character's visual is better watched for the audience when we made the opposite visual, and attitudes. Of course, Sancho came out easier than Quijote. I don't know why...That's are the two previous result for these characters, that I liked so much.

1/22/10

Based on the greatest book Don Quijote de La Mancha, I made these two studies for the main characters on the literate story. It was weeks of hard research and work (thousand of drawings: pain in my hands!!), but it's not ending here...